Micromobility vehicles, such as e-scooters, zip in and out of traffic. In San Antonio alone, over 12,000 scooters are on the road. For this reason, micromobility is seen as an alleviating trend to help tackle traffic congestion.
Tag: Engineering
New Portable Tool Analyzes Microbes in the Environment
Imagine a device that could swiftly analyze microbes in oceans and other aquatic environments, revealing the health of these organisms – too tiny to be seen by the naked eye – and their response to threats to their ecosystems. Rutgers researchers have created just such a tool, a portable device that could be used to assess microbes, screen for antibiotic-resistant bacteria and analyze algae that live in coral reefs. Their work is published in the journal Scientific Reports.
Potential Way to Halt Blinding Macular Degeneration Identified
It would be the first treatment for “dry” age-related macular degeneration and could significantly improve treatment for wet AMD.
Award-winning engineer helps keep US nuclear deterrent safe from radiation
Sandia National Laboratories engineer Alan Mar ensures components made for the U.S. nuclear stockpile pass stringent standards to resist radiation and remain safe and reliable in extremely harsh environments.
Project-based class intended to immerse engineering students in realistic problem-solving situations
Wichita State University students interested in assistive technology and service learning will be able to perform projects through an “Accessible Design” class offered for the first time in spring 2020. This fall, students in a project-based class developed technology to help a nonverbal individual communicate.
A self-cleaning surface that repels even the deadliest superbugs
A team of researchers at McMaster University has developed a self-cleaning surface that can repel all forms of bacteria, preventing the transfer of antibiotic-resistant superbugs and other dangerous bacteria in settings ranging from hospitals to kitchens.
Early-career engineers learn about the wide variety of tasks in PPPL program
The Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory’s new rotational engineering program allows early-career engineers to receive a variety of training as they rotate through four different engineering areas during the two-year program.
Siting Cell Towers Needs Careful Planning
The health impacts of radio-frequency radiation (RFR) are still inconclusive, but the data to date warrants more caution in placing cell towers. An engineering team from Michigan Tech considers the current understanding of health impacts and possible solutions, which indicate a 500 meters (one third of a mile) buffer around schools and hospitals may help reduce risk for vulnerable populations.
Student engineers to ply their green skills in NYC
Cornell University engineering students are working with an Ithaca, New York, engineering firm to help New York City lower its carbon footprint.
McMaster researchers create “smart” surfaces to help synthetic blood-vessel grafts knit better and more safely
Researchers at McMaster University have created a new coating to prevent clotting and infection in synthetic vascular grafts, while also accelerating the body’s own process for integrating the grafted vessels.
MRS Bulletin Editor Gopal R. Rao Named AAAS Fellow
The Materials Research Society (MRS) congratulates MRS Bulletin Editor Gopal R. Rao, recently named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
FAU College of Engineering and Computer Science Professor Appointed Member of Prestigious Academia Europaea
Borivoje “Borko” Furht, Ph.D., a professor in FAU’s Department of Computer and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and director of the National Science Foundation Research Center (CAKE) in FAU’s College of Engineering and Computer Science, was recently appointed as a member of the prestigious Academia Europaea.
This App Teaches Sketching Skills to Improve Graduation Rates in Science and Engineering
Engineers have developed a touchscreen app to teach students how to sketch 2D projections and 3D views freehand. This teaches students spatial visualization–the ability to think in 3D. This skill is important in many STEM fields, from Computer-Aided-Design (CAD) in engineering to using ultrasound for medical procedures.
In ‘Find Your Path,’ Leading Scientists Offer Career and Life Lessons
In “Find Your Path: Lessons from 36 Leading Scientists and Engineers,” author and Hertz Fellow Daniel Goodman presents personal accounts of the challenges, struggles, successes, U-turns, and satisfactions encountered by leaders in industry, academia, and government.
24th Annual Boe Forum Explores the Impact of Genetic Engineering on our Future
Augustana University and the Center for Western Studies announced Drs. Robert Green and Jamie Metzl as keynote speakers for the 24th Boe Forum on Public Affairs to be held at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, March 23, in the Elmen Center.This year’s forum, “Are We Ready? The Science, Ethics, and Geopolitics of Genetic Engineering and Preventive Genomics,” will examine the relationship between genetics and health, the ability to predict and thereby prevent disease, and the geopolitics of genetic engineering and genomics.
Save the Date: Major Scientific Meeting on Sound Next Month in San Diego
The Acoustical Society of America will hold its 178th meeting, Dec. 2-6, at the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego. This major scientific conference brings together interdisciplinary groups of researchers spanning many fields, including physics, medicine, music, psychology, architecture and engineering, to discuss their latest research. Reporters are invited to attend the meeting for free and participate in a series of press conferences featuring a selection of newsworthy research.
Nature might be better than tech at reducing air pollution
Adding plants and trees to the landscapes near factories and other pollution sources could reduce air pollution by an average of 27 percent, new research suggests.
The study shows that plants – not technologies – may also be cheaper options for cleaning the air near a number of industrial sites, roadways, power plants, commercial boilers and oil and gas drilling sites.
In fact, researchers found that in 75 percent of the counties analyzed, it was cheaper to use plants to mitigate air pollution than it was to add technological interventions – things like smokestack scrubbers – to the sources of pollution.
Budil to be honored for outstanding achievements
In recognition of outstanding achievements in both academia and public service, Kim Budil, leader of the weapon program at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), will be honored by her alma mater Nov. 22 with the Distinguished Engineering Alumni Medal from UC Davis’ College of Engineering.
3D-Printed Plastics With High Performance Electrical Circuits
Rutgers engineers have embedded high performance electrical circuits inside 3D-printed plastics, which could lead to smaller and versatile drones and better-performing small satellites, biomedical implants and smart structures. They used pulses of high-energy light to fuse tiny silver wires, resulting in circuits that conduct 10 times more electricity than the state of the art, according to a study in the journal Additive Manufacturing. By increasing conductivity 10-fold, the engineers can reduce energy use, extend the life of devices and increase their performance.
To rid electric grid of carbon, shore up green energy support
Cornell and Northwestern University engineers, along with a federal economist, have created an energy model that helps to remove carbon-generated power from the U.S. electric grid – replacing it with a greener, financially feasible wind, solar and hydro energy system.
Most complete exploration of fly landing maneuvers to advance future robots
To inspire advanced robotic technology, researchers in the Penn State Department of Mechanical Engineering have published the most complete description of how flying insects land upside-down.
Save the Date: Major Meeting on Fluid Dynamics in Seattle, Nov. 23-26, 2019
The American Physical Society’s Division of Fluid Dynamics 72nd Annual Meeting will take place on Nov. 23-26, 2019, in Seattle, Washington. Journalists are invited to attend the meeting for free. Live press webcasts, featuring a selection of newsworthy research, will take place during the meeting. Fluid dynamics is an interdisciplinary field that investigates visible and invisible phenomena from a wide range of disciplines including engineering, physics, biology, oceanography, atmospheric science and geology.
Protecting the most vulnerable patients during anesthesia
Pediatric anesthesia is a stressful and critical environment. Dr. Bilen-Rosas wants to help clinicians recognize dangerous sedation pathologies sooner. She teamed up with the Morgridge Fab Lab to create a new medical device that alerts clinicians to compromised airways.
Researcher Brent Seales Using Light Brighter Than the Sun to Read Herculaneum Scrolls
For nearly two decades, Brent Seales has doggedly labored to do the impossible — reveal the elusive texts within the carbonized Herculaneum scrolls. Now, he believes new scans are the best chance yet at revealing the mysterious contents.
Autonomy New Mexico interns build drones to test hypersonic tech
A team of college interns at Sandia National Laboratories has built autonomous drones to try out new navigation, guidance and control, and target recognition techniques ultimately bound for autonomous hypersonic vehicles.
First fully rechargeable carbon dioxide battery with carbon neutrality
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago are the first to show that lithium-carbon dioxide batteries can be designed to operate in a fully rechargeable manner, and they have successfully tested a lithium-carbon dioxide battery prototype running up to 500 consecutive cycles of charge/recharge processes.
A new way to turn heat into energy
An international team of scientists has figured out how to capture heat and turn it into electricity.
The discovery, published last week in the journal Science Advances, could create more efficient energy generation from heat in things like car exhaust, interplanetary space probes and industrial processes.
Rutgers Expert Can Discuss Flame Experiments on International Space Station
New Brunswick, N.J. (Sept. 19, 2019) – Rutgers University–New Brunswick Engineering Professor Stephen D. Tse can comment on flame experiments this month on the International Space Station. The NASA project on symmetrical flames, called s-Flame, is aimed at studying combustion,…
With #HurricaneDorian’s approach comes the threat of power loss, which can disrupt transportation and put lives at risk. @JohnsHopkins engineer Umesh Korde suggests that harnessing energy from ocean waves can help restore power more quickly.
As Hurricane Dorian threatens to strike Florida, officials are beginning to prepare for its potential impact on electricity, building infrastructure, transportation and more. Umesh Korde, a research professor in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering at The Johns Hopkins…
Lessons from Columbine: New technology provides insight during active shooter situations
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Run, hide, fight. It has become a mantra for how to act during an active shooter situation. The idea is to escape the situation or protect oneself, and counter the gunman as a last resort. A…
LLNL breaks ground on new facilities in support of stockpile stewardship
Leadership from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Livermore Field Office (LFO) and contractor Hensel Phelps broke ground June 5 on the Applied Materials and Engineering (AME) campus at LLNL. The ground breaking was for…
Artificial Intelligence Could be ‘Game Changer’ in Detecting, Managing Alzheimer’s Disease
Study Introduces Machine Learning as New Tactic in Assessing Cognitive Brain Health and Patient Care Worldwide, about 44 million people are living with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) or a related form of dementia. Although 82 percent of seniors in the United…